Entertainment

Chime for Change: In defence of the booty shake

On Saturday Twickenham Stadium hosted a concert to raise awareness for women’s equality around the globe – but it seems what the singers were wearing grabbed the real headlines.

Chime for Change, which is a campaign founded by Gucci to promote education, health and justice for every girl and woman around the world, was slated for it’s raunchy performances and the sexualised outfits of singers like Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez.

Even poor Jessie J got abuse for wearing a low cut top… really! Let’s not even get started on Madonna giving a positive speech to the crowd, only moments later to be ridiculed on Twitter for having a ‘puffy’ face.

Some people think that the performances and stage outfits were detrimental to the ethos of the whole campaign.  I wholeheartedly disagree.

Every female singer there had her own style and Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and Rita Ora are performers. They are known for wearing tight fitted outfits and dynamic choreography.

Did everyone expect the likes of Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez to stand still in floor length gowns singing a bunch of ballads? Because I sure didn’t.

There is the argument that it was perhaps too ‘sexy’, however at the same time shouldn’t women be able to embrace their femininity and still be treated equally.  No one bats an eye lash when a man in a suit gets to assert his authority in the workplace, but when a stage performance at a concert includes an up-tempo dance routine everyone decides to criticise.

To some young women, Beyoncé might be the embodiment of female empowerment and modern-day feminism.  To others, the sexual nature of female performers might be seen as doing an injustice to moving equality forward.  But are we all just thinking way too much about things and overanalysing what we see.

Regardless, Isn’t it time women should be judged by what they do rather than what they wear? After all, wouldn’t it have been just as oppressive to make people tone down their performances and wear more conservative clothing – which is something the campaign aims to combat.

What did you think of the concert? Were the performances too sexualised or did they empower you? Sound off in the comments…

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